Social Impact Assessment on the Shallow-Water Reeffish, Queen Conch and Coral Fishery Management Plans

Valdes Pizzini, Manuel

This document presents a social impact evaluation of three fisheries of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Island, managed by the Caribbean Fishery .Management Council. The Council contracted this report to provide information required by the last amendment to the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Different from the standard procedure in Social Impact Assessment (SIA), this document is fundamentally based on past research, and does not entail research done on the the specific fisheries affected by the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) that require the information. These are: the Queen Conch, Shallow-Water Reeffish and the Coral Fishery Management Plans. Specific gears affected are traps and diving. However, this report is based on original research; most of which was conducted by the author and his associates over the last 12 years. Most of the materials and data sources employed in this report are derived from unpublished manuscripts and reports. Published materials are, of course, used in the preparation of this assessment. Results and projections of research in progress are also used in this document. Data on Life History of the fishermen, and Gill Net fishermen are preliminary results of analyses In progress. Information micro-levels of social analyses (households, production units (boats, gear and crew), communities, fishermen associations) are based on ethnographic materials, published reports and articles, as well as from unpublished reports done by our students on different areas of the Island of Puerto Rico. The Information provided here also employs data from the CFMC. fieldnotes, and notes from meetings and conferences in which the fishermen and the researchers have participated.